Related Insights

Terms like Bitcoin, blockchain, and mining are entering the mainstream — but to the unacquainted, it can be hard to know where to start. How does it all work? On October 18, 2017, CDT fellow and political economist Benjamin Dean discussed the basics of crypto-ledgers, cryptocurrencies, and the associated policy issues. His presentation is available here.

In these reply comments, we respond to some of the claims raised by other commenters to support the NPRM. More specifically, we seek to clarify three underlying legal and policy misconceptions, focusing on assertions regarding the nature of the services provided by internet service providers (ISPs) and the scope of the relevant laws and regulations.

The latest skirmish in the nearly seven-year battle between diagnostic testing company LabMD and the FTC begins on Wednesday, June 21st, as oral arguments are held in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral argument may elucidate thinking around two key questions: (1) What are the contours of a “substantial injury” when evaluating unfair data security practices and how should data security’s costs and benefits be evaluated? and (2) What constitutes fair notice and “ascertainable certainty” of the FTC’s expectations for “reasonable” data security?

In general, we support the Commission’s initiative to update and rewrite the ePD. We agree with many of the motivations and intentions behind it. However, we offer a number of observations about the approach taken by the Commission that we suggest should be taken into account as the proposal is considered by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.

CDT submitted the following comments in response to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) call for public input on the the benefits and privacy and security issues associated with current and future motor vehicles.

CDT thanks the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for its thorough and thoughtful consideration of the principles supporting the concept of net neutrality as well as the practical issues with implementing a regulatory scheme to preserve an open internet. CDT has participated in the TRAI’s consultation on differential pricing and the pre-consultation on net neutrality and now respectfully submits these comments in response to the questions raised in the TRAI’s Net Neutrality Consultation.

Though it is likely that the Federal Trade Commission will continue to lead on privacy policy and enforcement, CDT recommends that the NTIA and Department of Commerce continue their ongoing efforts to engage stakeholders and to pursue consensus-based global standards, starting from the premise that the privacy challenges raised by the IoT are novel. The Department is well positioned to highlight efforts within industry to promote privacy, which includes addressing basic Fair Information Practice Principles and adopting privacy by design across the full lifecycle of IoT devices, products, and services.

At the Center for Democracy & Technology, we believe that there are core beliefs that unite every American. Our policy recommendations for the nation’s 45th president are moderate, pragmatic proposals aimed at charting a forward-looking course that protects our individual rights, keeps the country secure, and enables further innovation in our hyper-connected reality.

CDT has submitted additional comments on the the Copyright Office policy study focused on Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which prohibits the circumvention of technological protection measures (TPMs). CDT commented in the initial phase of this study, and these comments address the Office’s response to the proposals received to update the statute.